Kari and Micheal's Wedding

Two weeks!

2009-06-08T01:06:00.001-04:00

Hey all! The wedding is two weeks away!! Now don't panic (because I'm not) it's going to be a wonderful day. I just finished my comprehensive doctoral exams and I will be flying home on Wednesday to go into full wedding planning mode.

I still have a lot to do, but if I can rock out 60 pages in 7 days finishing up wedding details should be a snap!

See ya soon!

-Kari

27 days to go!!

2009-05-26T17:41:00.002-04:00

So the wedding was officially four weeks from yesterday and all I have to say about that is HOLY COW! I think we're doing pretty well with finalizing the details, still a few things to be decided and lots of small details that will be left to the 10 days I have at home before the wedding.

Things that we've accomplished:

Honeymoon!! We will be going to Secrets in Maroma Beach Cancun! It's an adult only all-inclusive resort and I'm super excited! It's got nothing but good reviews and we were referred there by our travel agent who had just returned from a trip there. They also have a swine flu guarantee, if you or your guest get the swine flu after visiting you get something crazy like 2 or 3 trips back to the resort for free.

Rehearsal Dinner!! We will be having a wonderful night of food, fun, drinks and family at The Tap Room at Waldo pizza. I'm so excited about this, several of my friends have had their RDs there and have given rave reviews.

The rose garden is whole again!! My wonderful internet friends have been keeping tabs on the Loose Park construction project for me and have updated me with pics. There is grass, roses and it looks great! Now just do a no-rain dance for June 21st and we'll be just fine.

Micheal's suit has been purchased, I've recently checked off wedding shoes and RD dress. Corsages and boutonnieres have been ordered.

I'll be taking prelims from June 1st to June 8th so all wedding planning will be passed on to Micheal and my family for the week then I fly home on the 10th to go into all out planning mode!!

We're officially up to 70 guests but are still missing quite a few RSVPs so if you can send yours in soon that would be spectacular!

Invites are out!!

2009-05-05T00:03:00.002-04:00

The invites went out in the mail today!! It's so exciting! Don't ask how late I was up last night finishing them...

The finished product!

Micheal casually tossing a few in

So excited!

Watch your mailbox!

RSVP

2009-05-04T23:32:00.001-04:00

99 days ... this is getting real people

2009-03-14T20:39:00.004-04:00

I'm home now for my final trip home before the wedding. So that means a whirlwind of planning and...MY BRIDAL SHOWER! :)

So on Friday I went to meet with the coordinator from the reception site and my Day of Coordinator Stephanie. Both meetings went great, and the BEST news of the day?! They are ripping out the ugly, gray, stained carpet and putting in hardwood floors!!! YIPPEE!! Those floors were the one major thing I didn't like about the venue but decided to deal with for the price. But now hardwoods - EEK! It's going to make such a difference. I also set up practice centerpieces:

My meeting with my DOC went great - she asked a lot of good questions and gave me some good ideas for how to make the day go more smoothly! I'm so glad we decided to have someone outside friends and family there the day of to help manage things.

After that I went to check out Loose Park Rose Garden and got a pretty big shock...
...man I hope they keep up the hard work and it looks much better than this on June 21st!!

Today was my bridal shower and it was awesome! I had a really good time and it was great to see people I do not get to see very often.

I'm so lucky to have these girls in my life to help me celebrate, and one in absentia whose positive vibes I could feel all day from Florida (miss you Sari!!)

Me and my mama

The highlights:

Game #1 - Cassie had a really fun idea to have people write down a memorable moment that they had with me and they would all be read aloud and I had to guess who wrote it. I only got one wrong...MY MOM! But in fairness it was something that I was too young to remember. :)

Game #2 - The infamous "gum game" - Jolene asked Micheal 20 questions and I had to guess his answers and for every question I got wrong I had to put a piece of gum in my mouth. I didn't know his favorite movie, his first pet's name and he wrote down his favorite song instead of "our" song and was wrong about who said I love you first! :P I think I missed a few more in there and ended up with a MOUTHFUL of gum!

In the second picture I'm thinking how much I didn't want to put that piece in my mouth and by the fourth picture I could hardly keep my mouth closed. About 6 or 7 pieces of bubblicious gum is way more than you think!!

On to gift opening! Everyone was so generous and my kitchen is going to be well stocked!

This is me telling my grandma to close her eyes as I opened the Victoria Secret bag from Jolene

She got me in the end though...I got to the last gift and there was a THONG wrapped around the giftcard, I told my grandma to again close her eyes and she kinda giggled and when I removed said thong it was from her!! In the card she said she got it for me to help me remember that she and grandpa were once young too. Needless to say I was shocked! But I love my grandma, she's awesome.

Jolene started my veil for me! I had attempted this once and had been less than successful - she did an awesome job!

I had lots of helpers...

Micheal's mom and sister came down from KC and I was so glad to see them!

All in all it was an amazing day and I am getting so excited for my wedding!! Only 99 days away, DOUBLE DIGITS PEOPLE!

Registry Information

2009-03-04T23:05:00.003-05:00

We are registered at:

The link below will take you directly to all three registries, if you purchase online through Wedding Channel they will make a donation to St. Judes Children's Hospital - which was the charity of our choice.

Bed, Bath & Beyond - Crate & Barrel - Macy's

One thing I have noted about being registered at Macy's - their sales fluctuate wildly! So far everything on our registry has been significantly on sale at least once in the two weeks since we have been registered. So my tip is - if it's not on sale, wait until next week and it likely will be!

Hotel Information - Marriott Downtown KC

2009-03-04T22:53:00.004-05:00

Hey all! It's been a little while but now the updates should be coming fast and furious! Here is the info for the hotels where we have blocks of rooms reserved at a group rate.

The Q Hotel & Spa
To make reservations call 1-816-931-0001. When you call you are booking a room for the Morgan-Struemph wedding, we have rooms available on Saturday June 20th and Sunday June 21st. These rooms need to be reserved by May 19th or they will be released back for general booking.

Our group rate is $105 for either two doubles or a queen room.

Space is limited at this hotel so if no more rooms are available we have an additional block at:

The Marriott Downtown KC
To make reservations you need to call 1-800-810-0850 or 1-816-421-6800 or at http://marriott.com/mcidt once I get the group booking code. When you call you are booking a room for the Morgan-Struemph wedding, we have 20 rooms blocked on Saturday June 20th and Sunday June 21st. If for some reason they run out or you have any problems please let us know!

Our group rate is $139/night for either two doubles or a king.

All reservations must be made by May 30th - after this the room price and availability cannot be guaranteed. Right now the rooms are booking for about $225 on Hotels.com so make sure to get booked by May 30th!

Alternative hotels are available in the area - if you want to search hotels.com near the reception site, the address is 1522 McGee Street, Kansas City, MO.

Can't wait to see you!!!

Plan plan plan!

2009-01-25T13:39:00.003-05:00

I know it's been a while since I updated and I'm honestly not sure what all I've done since the last post! So a general update:

My wonderful friend Cassie has agreed to make my cake for me and we've already started talking sizes and cake types - cake tasting next time I come home! If anyone has any excellent cake recipes send'em my way. We need to start thinking of a name for her cake decorating business, how about...Cakes by Cassie? :-D

Last weekend I purchased all of the fabric for my bridesmaids' dresses in a lovely burnt orange - and the best part it was on super sale, 70% off!! I've been eyeing this fabric for about 2 months and wasn't 100% sold on the color but hadn't found anything else I liked more. Well the Joanns that I go to is moving (closer to me yay!) but they are totally clearing out the old store instead of moving stuff and when my bolt of fabric went 70% off I couldn't pass that up. 8.5 yards of burnt orange satin fabric for $20!!! Not too shabby...

The two BIGGEST things that happened were that my dress came in while I was home (YAY!!!) and we booked the Rose Garden! I got to go try on my dress with my mom and we took it home that day! Right now it is residing at my dad's house because Diana (my step-mom) is doing the alterations for me - it's SUCH a huge help!

The Rose Garden you ask? Well...that's a story for another day...

RSVP

2008-11-10T22:44:00.002-05:00

Look at the cool RSVP thing I made with google!! Not sure if I'll use it, but I thought it was a neat discovery!! After people fill it out it puts it all in a spreadsheet for me - I love automatic organization!

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Back in VA

2008-10-28T22:08:00.003-04:00

My trip home was great, I got to spend a lot of time with my family and do some fun wedding planning stuff with my mom!

When I got in on Wednesday Mom and I went to check out the P&L district and wow is it cool! We had lunch at The Flying Saucer which was pretty good! Then met with Stephanie V. who is a wedding coordinator that we were interviewing to do the Day of Coordination (DOC) services and she was really nice.

After that we all went over to the Skylight Room so Mom could see it for the first time and she liked it! Or at least she's humoring me since we already put the deposit down - love ya mom!! :) They did have those big sheets hanging from the ceiling that people do gymnastics in - I think we should leave those up for the wedding so Micheal and I can work out a cool routine. :P

I took Mom to see Loose Park and the construction sign said please excuse our mess, under construction from August 2008 to JUNE 2009! OHHH NOO!! But do not fret, they are taking reservations for next May and June so I'm assuming (perhaps naively) that everything will be done in time. :) But the stand in line day is January 5th (I guess the 4th really) so that is kind of annoying.

Then Diana and I went shopping to buy the fabric for the flower girl and bridesmaid dresses!! We got lucky and found some really nice fabric for the FG dresses and a good liner for the BM dresses ($1/yard - woot!) but didn't find the color I wanted for the BM dresses so I'm still hunting for that.

Mom and I attempted to get some flowers from Sam's to try and practice making flowers but that was a big ol' flop since Sam's selection of flowers stunk! So that's saved for next time.

I had a great time, it flew by WAY to fast! Lots more planning to do so no time to sit down and blog...oh crud, I'd better get back to work!!

Wedding planning in 5 days?? Can I do it??

2008-10-11T23:21:00.003-04:00

Okay, so maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration but I AM coming home to present my Masters thesis at the KU conference and extended that trip a tad to build in some time for family, friends AND wedding planning!! Here's what I'm tackling:

Wednesday: I get in at 11 and my mom is taking to day off to pick me up, go to lunch in KC, meet with my potential day of coordinator (Stephanie!) and then going over to the Skylight room to meet with the coordinator there and have my mom see the venue for the first time! We might do a little shopping that day too for my mom's MOB dress. If we get back in town before the rugrats go to sleep stopping by and seeing my kids.

Thursday: Go to Lawrence, register for the conf, hopefully meet up with Cassie after she gets off of work (although...I realize this will be the first she "hears" of this - I'm emailing you now!!) and then back home for some family time!

Friday: Present my poster at 2:30 then meet up with Bobbie to hang out (hopefully.) :)

Saturday: Breakfast with the Shoves, then spend the day with my dad and step-mom. Going to try and talk her into going to Joanns with me to get the fabric for the flower girl dresses, bridesmaid dresses and any other fun projects we might want to undertake!

Sunday: Mom and I are going to buy flowers from Sams and play around with wedding stuff, nothing big planned, see the kids and get ready to head back to VA on Monday!

Monday: Leave from KC...I still need a ride, anyone interested? :D

I'm inspired!

2008-09-28T20:55:00.003-04:00

Things are moving along now and with the purchase of my new all-in-one printer (WOO HOO) I decided to start tackling another project. DIY Invitiations! I created the invites themselves a while ago, and decided to print them out tonight and see what I could put together with the supplies I had around here. So here is my first stab at what I might like my invites to look like!

I wasn't too jazzed at first with the just the invite on the background but with the wrap and the bow it really grew on me! This is definitely just a starting place but I think it's a pretty good start.

Suggestions are welcome. :)

Checking Things Off the List!

2008-09-25T23:32:00.003-04:00

Wow we've gotten quite a bit done over the past few weeks!! Major accomplishments include booking our reception site and buying my wedding dress!!

On Friday our contract (which included a Dr Pepper clause) was received by The Skylight Room at Crosstown Station and we have officially booked for June 21st, 2009. WOW! Here are some pics, we really LOVED this space the second we walked in. We really feel like it's "us" and reminds us a lot of our time at The Todd in Richmond.

The next thing I checked off the list was purchasing the patterns for my flower girls and for my bridesmaids!! My lovely step-mother has graciously agreed to make these dresses for the ladies and girls in my wedding. It will be such a big help! Here are the BM dresses:

They'll be a nice satin-y orange.

The final and most important accomplishment happened today! I ordered the most amazing piece of clothing that I will ever own and I'll only wear it for one day! My wedding dress!! Here's a link for anyone who wants to see it, I of course I can't post the pictures since Micheal might look at this. :)

http://www.jasminebridal.com/html/en/web1_collection_3_a.asp?id=119

That's all for now!

IKEA - woo hoo!

2008-09-07T23:26:00.002-04:00

So Micheal and I made a trip up to IKEA the other day because I wanted to look for vases and votives for potential centerpieces. I had identified a few online that I thought would work; several were too small, but I found ones that I LOVE!! They conveniently come in frosted red and orange and are super cool and unique and will go great in the Skylight Room (which we haven't officially booked yet...I know I know...getting on that this week.)

So here is a trial run - these aren't necessarily the flowers I would use, they are the flowers Micheal got me for my thesis defense, but some mixture of red/orange/pink/yellow gerberas and potentially other orange/red flowers (depending on what's cheap!)

From Wedding Pics

Thinking about putting the silver swirl sticks in it and/or votives around the base of the vase. EEEEE - this is the stuff that is fun. :)

Inspiration!

2008-08-19T18:27:00.002-04:00

My cake

Flower girl dress

Potential bridesmaid dress

The Ceremony Site

2008-08-16T15:44:00.000-04:00

Barring rain, long lines on January 2nd and/or construction we will be getting married in the Rose Garden at Loose Park in Kansas City, MO. The Rose Garden and the duck pond hold special meaning to Micheal and I as we spent a lot of time just hanging out and feeding the ducks.

The logistics: Since the garden is SO popular they only let you reserve for the current business year. Which means all reservations for the year don't start until January 2nd. So brides and grooms to be literally camp out in line in January to try and get their desired date and time! For us it shouldn't be too bad since we're getting married on a Sunday but I'll still be waiting in line with all the other hopefuls!

Another hitch - they are closing the rose garden in August to start construction/renovations. The bonus - IF they get done it should be as beautiful as ever! The drawback...they say it should be done by next year but aren't willing to commit to that. Yikes!

Here are some pictures!

From top: The fountain in the middle of the Rose Garden; The view from where we'll get married; The duck pond; US!

LOOSE PARK ROSE GARDEN
5100 WORNALL RD
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI

Welcome To Our Wedding Blog!

2008-08-16T12:48:00.000-04:00

I've had quite a few people ask how our wedding is going and what we have and haven't done so I decided to start a wedding blog to keep everyone updated on important info!

SAVE THE DATE

June 21st, 2009

The Engagement

2007-12-08T18:48:00.000-05:00

I was scheduled to go home on Tuesday Dec. 11th to be there for the birth of my 4th niece/nephew on Wednesday! Micheal and I had planned to go to Washington DC for quite a while on the Saturday Dec. 8th - to have a fun weekend before I left for home. So on Satruday we got up and headed up to DC - Micheal's first trip, my second! When we got there we parked near the National Mall (which is what the area with the Washington Monument, WWII Memorial, etc is called) and started walking to look for a place to eat.

There was NOTHING in the vicinity except Subway, Micheal kept poo-pooing Subway and said he wanted to go somewhere nicer - well, I was getting hungry and grumpy so he settled and Subway it was!

We then made our way over towards the Washington Monument; here is Micheal with the Washington Monument in the background and a view of the WM from the WWII Memorial.

We then spent some time enjoying the WWII memorial; it's so cool to experience these things with Micheal because he has such a different appreciation for them. He knows all of the quotes on the walls, who said them - it's just really his thing and he really thinks it's cool.

Here is Micheal by the Missouri pillar, one for each state in the order they entered the union and a cool view of one of the entrances.

We then walked along the reflecting pond (think Forrest Gump as Jenny runs towards Forrest after he speaks); the sides were so muddy that we had to walk along the cement edge hoping I didn't fall into the partially frozen water! We made our way up into the Lincoln Memorial and took some pictures with Abe and read the Emancipation Proclimation on the wall.

Then we walked out to the marble steps, and you can either walk down the steps or walk over to the side where there is more of an overlook. We stood there overlooking all of the national mall, it was a really cool view with the reflecting pond, the Washington Monument and the State Capitol.

Micheal looked over and said "Thanks for coming with me today" I replied "Of course, it was a fun little adventure." He then said "Are you ready for a bigger adventure?" At this point in my story everyone who knows the end says "awww......" - but I totally didn't get it! I was tired and cold and thought to myself 'not really' but fortunately I said "Sure, where do you want to go?" He then pulled a little blue box out of his pocket, got down on a knee, opened the box and asked me to marry him. (Getting a little misty telling the story!)

I was SO shocked, I completely had no idea, and I really thought I would when it came time! I responded by saying 'oh my god' (which started about halfway through the kneel) and continuing to say 'oh my god' about 50 times before I realized I needed to reply in an affirmative fashion! So of course I said YES! As we were walking down the steps I really wanted a picture so I asked some couple to take a picture of us, the guy asked me if I wanted it w/the monument or Lincoln in the background and I said "I honestly don't care, he just asked me to marry him so I just want us!" So my face is puffy from crying and lips are blue from the cold but I was happier than I can ever remember being.

Micheal and I were truely meant to be together and I can't wait to spend the rest of our lives together.